City of Peterborough Hockey Club face a tough campaign without many familiar faces

The city side open their Division One North campaign against Olton & West Warwicks at Bretton Gate on Sunday (September 27, 2pm) without several of the players who performed heroics to keep them in the second tier of the English Hockey League last season.

Inspirational captain Ross Booth will be the biggest loss. The classy midfielder has left the club after nine years, eight of them as captain, to concentrate on his farming commitments.

It was also a 100-mile round trip to home games for Booth who was joined on those journeys by another gifted midfield player, Ben Read. Read has also left City.

Others to depart include speedy attacking star Adam Wilson and fellow forwards Ross Ambler and Sam Blunt, as well as defender Jordan Heald who has taken up a teaching post in Spain.

Wilson’s departure is a disappointment as he started playing at Bretton Gate as a youngster in the club’s mini hockey programme. The fact he’s joined local divisional rivals Cambridge City will add to the pain.

City avoided the drop last season even though they were in a relegation place with one match to go when the coronavirus ended play early.

City still had a strong chance of survival, something League officials took into account when keeping them in Division One, a fine achievement as it was the first taste of this standard in the club’s history.

Joe Finding will skipper City this season, but there remain many uncertainties about the amount of play that will be possible.

Five of the 10 teams in Division One North are University based and it’s unclear what Covid-19 restrictions regarding travel will be in place for students.

The playing strength of the student teams will also be hard to gauge.

City are due in Wales to face Cardiff Met in their second fixture on October 4, which could present further problems with the regulations in the Principality changing regularly.

Deeside Ramblers are the new team in Division One North.

They’ve replaced the University of Durham who were promoted to the Premier League. No team was relegated.

Division One North: Bowdon, Cambridge City, Cardiff & Met, City of Peterborough. Deeside Ramblers, Loughborough Students, Olton & West Warwicks, Sheffield Hallam, University of Birmingham and University of Nottingham.

The East League season starts tomorrow with local clubs Bourne Deeping, Spalding, March, Long Sutton and Wisbech all represented along with 12 City of Peterborough teams (eight men and four ladies).

City of Peterborough Ladies will again be skippered by Liz Dakin as they look to build on last season’s excellent third place finish in the East Premier Division.

City have picked up a few new players and will start the season at Cambridge City seconds tomorrow full of confidence.

It’s far from an easy starter though as the traditionally strong Cambridge side finished in fifth place last season.